58 ACQUISITIONS IN DECEMBER

2017 ended with a flurry of substantial food and drink transactions out of 58 in total recorded on the bevblog.net mergers and acquisitions database.

10 reached $500 million and 6 of these exceeded $1,000 million.

• €6,825 million for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts private equity to buy Unilever’s spreads business

• $4,900 million for Campbell Soup to move on Snyder’s-Lance snacks in the United States

• $4,840 million for Thai Beverage to take a 54% stake in Vietnamese brewer Sabeco

• $3,900 million for Crown Holdings to purchase the Signode packaging business in the United States from Carlyle private equity

• $2,300 million for Switzerland’s Nestlé to gain Canada’s Atrium Innovations in nutrition from Permira private equity and others.

• $1,600 million for Hershey to win Amplify Snack Brands in the United States.

Among the 58, 13 were in alcohol, 5 in dairy, 5 in ingredients, 4 in nutrition, 4 in plant-based and 3 each in confectionery and frozen food.

25 were within national borders, including 16 in the United States and 5 in the United Kingdom. 33 were international. The US participated in 30 overall and the UK in 10, followed by Switzerland in 5, Canada in 4, Ireland in 3 and South Africa in 3.